John mckay alfoed



UNITED STATES PATENT GEETCE.

JOHN MOKAY ALFORD, OF FLORAL COLLEGE, NORTH CAROLINA.

PORTABLE RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370,754, dated October4, 1887.

Application filed June 9, 1887. Serial No. 240,797. (No model.)

To all whom it may conlcern:

Be it known that I, J OHN MCKAY ALFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Floral College, in the county of Robeson and State of NorthCarolina, have invented a new and useful Improvement in PortableRailway- ?witches, of which the following is a specificaion.

My invention relates to an improvement in to portable railway-switchesadapted .to switch railway-cars onto and off the track, and particularlyuseful to persons engaged in repairing and building railways; and itconsists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices, thatwill be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed outinthe claims.

In the drawings, Figurel is atop plan view of aportion ofarailway-switch embodying my improvements, showing the manner ofattaching the same to a railway-track. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thesame. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view.

A represents the main rails of a railway- 2 5 track. B represents a pairof heads, which are provided on their outer sides with depending sides0, adapted to bear against the outer sides of the track-rails A. Atthelower edges of the sides 0 are formed horizontal laterallyprojectingflanges D, in which are a series of 'vertical open notches or recesses,E. The upper sides of the heads B are adapted to rest upon the tops ofthe rails A, and are inclined, as shown, the outer ends of the saidheads be- 3 5 ing tapered to athin point, and thereby adapting the headsto raise the treads of the carwheels from the track A as the cars travelin the direction indicated by the arrowin Fig. 1. Through the thickenedportions of the heads 0 13 extend transverse bolt-rods F, which areprovided with clamp-nuts G, and are adapted to firmly secure the heads Bin position on the outer sides of. the track-rails.

H represents ears or offsets which project 5 from the inner corners ofthe heads B. The heads B are prevented from riding up on top rails A byspikes I, which are driven into the cross-ties, and have their headsextending through the recesses E and engaging the upper sides of theflanges D.

K represents the pair of curved switch-rails,

which have their inner ends attached to the projecting studs H by meansof plates L,which lap over the meeting ends of the said switchrails andstuds H, and are secured thereto by means of transverse bolts M. Theunder sides of the switch-rails K are provided with vertical tongues N,which are adapted to enter similar grooves made in the upper ends ofsupporting-kneesfl, the said knees being secured on the cross-ties. Byreference to Figs. land 2 it will be observed that the switchrails arearranged higher than the tracks A same, and are provided at their outerthreaded ends with clamping-nuts B. Side tracks extend from the outerends of the switch-rails, as will be readily understood, said sidetracks being not illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

The operation of my invention is as follows: When a train proceeding inthe direction in- 7 dicatedby the arrow in Fig. 1 reaches the heads B,its wheels run up the inclined upper sides of the said heads, and arethereby raised above the top of the tracks A,a'nd are directed onto thecurved switch-rails K and by the lat- 8o ter to the side track.

The heads B and the switch-rails K are comparatively light, and areadapted to be attached to the main track and detached therefrom in avery short time, and are easily car- 8 5 ried from one place to another.

A portable switch thus constructed is particularly adapted for useby'persons engaged in repairing railways, as it enables aconstruction-train to be readily removed from the 0 main track onto animprovised side track, where it will be out of the way of passingtrains.

Having thus described my invention, I claim-- 1. The combination, in aportable railway- 5 switch, of the heads B, having the inclined uppersides and provided with the depending side plates, 0, adapted to engagethe outer sides of the main-track rails, and the bolt-rods F, connectingthe said heads B together to clamp I00 the latter in position againstthe main-track rails, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a portable railwayswitch, of the heads B, havingthe inclined upper sides and the projecting studs or offsets H at theirinner elevated corners, the trackrails K, having their inner endsconnected to the said studs or offsets, the said track-rails beingarranged above and crossing over the main rails A, and the knees E, tosupport the switch-rails, substantially as described.

3. The combination, in a portable railwayswitch, of the heads B, havingthe inclined upper sides and adapted to be attached to the main-trackrails, the switch-rails K, connected to the heads B, arranged above thetrack-rails and crossing the same, the said switeh-rails having thedepending tonguesNon their lower sides, and the supporting-knees havingthe grooves in their upper ends to receive the tongues N, for thepurpose set forth, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN MOKAY ALFORD.

Witnesses:

H. (J. ALFORD, W. A. ELLis

